wherein cait discusses power tools, her dad, and posts pictures of elvish hats

My dad has mentioned (a lot) that it seems to him our blog is devoid of his frabjous presence. This may be true (though don’t forget this father’s day post), so I am remedying it today by introducing you to my dad.

Because he is awesome.

The first thing you should know about my dad is…

He always wins Monopoly.

Okay, there was this one time (it was so delicious) that I bled both him and Mime dry. I only owned the Brown section (you know, Vine Street, Bow Street, and Marlborough), and yet I drained their credit cards (we have that funky new Monopoly set) and sat back laughing like a rich, mad-woman.

There I am, hiding behind my property card. That’s dad’s look of “Oh, this is unplanned…I am not winning”. Mime is smiling because she’s losing like usual and doesn’t realize it yet. Our minions are preparing us lunch in the background.

My dad is also the awesome kind that let me use power tools when I was little. Well, little-er.

I remember this occasion. This (below) is one of many houses we lived in. This one, in particular, we liked to repaint a variety of colours. Continually. Here I am below, with a drill. I’m not sure why we’re taking the verandah apart (this is the second story of the house), but it sounds unsafe fun.

My dad is a brilliant grandpa. He’s only had 2 and a bit years practise, so I think he’s doing extremely well.

Having grandkids is more fun then having kids, I’ve heard. It’s an interesting theory.

My dad is many other wonderful things.

Like…

– He introduced me to superhero movies.– He taught me how to drive. (Grey hair all round.)– He makes the funniest jokes.– He taught me about computers.– He comes to listen to Mime and my concerts when we perform on various instruments.– He prays a blessing on us every night.– He enjoys getting beaten by me when we play cards.– He’s very supportive of my Christmas baking.– He has full confidence my books will be made into movies.– He saved me from getting murdered by a kookaburra when I was 8.– He also canoed under a log with a crocodile on it with Mime (they didn’t die. Just in case you were wondering).– He believes chocolate is good for you, a belief I share.– And he enjoys getting poked in the ribs. (Loves it. Seriously.)

Comments

My Dad never plans on losing games either. And he is also VERY supportive of all baking endeavors.Wait, do Australians have their own Monopoly? Because I have NEVER heard of the brown set. Maybe that's just a feature that comes with the credit cards? What? Kookaburras are murderous? Somehow I didn't picture them that way. To tell the truth, my only experience with kookaburras is a children's song/round. "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree! Merry, merry king of the bush is he-eee!" Ahem. Anyhow, it made them sound nicer than that.

Oh, that song is a total lie. Kookaburras are dangerous creatures with really sharp beaks and an infatuation with sausages (even if they're halfway to your mouth). They may look fluffy and cute but they're evil. My dad also loves them and feeds them from our verandah every morning. Weird. Really?! Gosh. What does an American Monopoly board look like? We probably have the English version.

My dad always wins monopoly too. At least, I'm pretty sure. It always ends badly, and we only have the kids' version, so we haven't played in a year or so. My dad would be really supportive of my baking, but he makes cookies that are the best dessert I've ever had. Plus he cycles and plays hockey a lot, so he doesn't like extra calories that are anything less than his cookies. He really likes my cooking, though. His eyes light up whenever I make Indian food… What are kookaburras? I have seriously never heard of them. Apparently researching Australia for a paper five years ago didn't do me as much good as I thought…

Yay for dad's who appreciate our kitchen endeavours! Woot!Never heard of kookaburras?! Woah. No way. Well, they're birds. With beaks and feathers. They have beady eyes and an infatuation with sausages. Have you heard of brolgas? Kookaburras are nothing like brolgas. I've definitely explained it well, eh?

Storks?! Well…kind of I guess. Brolgas dance! I half saw one dancing once, but my parents saw it in full. (We were outback, though.) I think your description of a kookaburra is spot on. Yes. Just add malicious after the cool feathers (baby kookaburras are really fluffy…kind of cute…but no! I will not be swayed on my opinion that they're evil).

Your dad sounds wicked! Admittedly I don't see a lot of mine – he works full-time, even on the rare occasions when I'm home in the holidays, but he's pretty proud of my work, even if it does confuse him a bit. And he tickles me. A lot. And I do not like it.He also makes fun of me being short, now that my brother is taller than me. Which I am also not so keen on until I realise I can get my revenge by threatening to dye his hair orange in his sleep.

My dad thinks that my right to poke HIM should be reversed in his right to poke ME. It doesn't work that way. I alone can be annoying. We're still working on that one… Oh! Orange hair. That ought to quell teasing…if not, blue is a fabulous colour too.